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Tag Archives: Holy Week

I know it doesn’t look like a crucifixion scene, but take a moment and explore Pablo Picasso’s famous The Old Guitarist from his Blue Period (1901-04). Painted in 1903 shortly after the suicide of a close friend, The Old Guitarist pays homage to the poor and downtrodden, the outcasts of society. The 22 year old Picasso was working…

Today let’s consider the mixed media piece He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions, a work by artist Sandra Bowden. In this piece Bowden layers together a facsimile of a 14th century crucifix by Italian painter Maitrede San Francisco with a fragment from Benjamin Britten’s composition of Sanctus from his War Requiem. Sanctus Holy,holy,holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth…

Last fall as part of my sabbatical I stayed a week in Chicago. Much of my time was spent at the Art Institute of Chicago where I encountered this striking painting by the Spainish artist Francisco de Zurbarán. An imposing piece, nearly 10 feet high, it easily holds its own across the gallery hall from El Greco’s…

“Writing is not describing. Painting is not depicting.” –Georges Braque Paintings of the crucifixion litter the annals of art history. During Holy Week as I’m finishing up details for worship services to come, I’m taking personal time to pause with a few paintings of the crucifixion scene that are thought-provoking for me. I invite you…